US jail practices are racist and an 'affront to human dignity,' UN experts say
US jail practices are racist and an 'affront to human dignity,' UN experts say
U.N. human rights experts have called for major reforms of the U.S. criminal justice system to combat systemic racism, citing testimonies that jailed Black women had been shackled during childbirth while male inmates were forced to work in "plantation-style" conditions.
In a report published on Thursday, three U.N.-appointed experts said they had found practices in U.S. prisons that amounted to “an affront to human dignity” in visits in April and May.
The U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it was committed to ensuring the safety and security of incarcerated individuals as well as employees and the public.
One such practice is restraining and shackling women prisoners during childbirth, the report said.
The experts “heard, first hand, unbearable direct testimonies of pregnant women shackled during labour, who due to the chaining, lost their babies”, it said. Asked to give details, a U.N. rights spokesperson referred to “several” cases and confirmed they all involved Black women.
I mean, honestly, this is a rather unfair assessment.
It's not just our jail system. It's pretty much the entire judicial system at every step of the way, from a traffic stop to eventual execution.
our police/courts/corrections is an industry, unfortunately. Who knew that placing ever more profit motives on arresting, processing, and jailing people would end up leading to bad outcomes.
But, hey, it's just the unwashed the masses, so who cares, I guess.
Stop and film.
Don't talk to the police.
True about a lot of U.S. practices, especially those involving people of color.
I very much don't disagree, but one of the reasons we hear about these issues in the US is that we have a much larger "minority" (meaning not the people in power, even if there is a plurality) population.
In places like South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, there's either a homogenous population where this doesn't make sense as a criticism or it's just not being reported on. There's huge amounts of racism all over the world.
The US and Canada have problems, but there are going to be pains as we identify and try to correct these racial injustices.
Remember: while colonialism and triangle trade slavery were the worst examples of racism, and the West invented that, it did not invent racism.
What it did invent was feeling bad about racism and trying to improve things.
This is not to defend or deflect anything. It's more that I find "consciousness raising" to be effective.
I disagree. I think the reason why we hear about these stories is because the U.S. is supposed to be the 'land of the free' and the place for 'your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' And then it turns out that no, it's actually a shithole. And then it turns out that it's especially bad for minorities due to whatever specific situation the story is about. So I think you've kind of got it backwards.
You have an okay point. Liberalism is good at advocating for certain issues, one being against racism and against the police state. I see this as an issue worth watching because the issues in some key prisons have gotten worse and more brazen in very recent years, not better.
I get a deep sense of satisfaction every time a filthy 01/06 insurrectionist ends up in prison and whines about conditions.
Suck it up, buttercup. You were loving it when you thought it was just "those people".
What happened on the 1st of June?
No idea, it's just like people always going on about the 9th of November. Something about plane crashes i think?
YOU DONT SAY
The headline says "jail" but the article only refers to cases in prisons. I know the entire criminal justice system is messed up, but did this UN study specifically find both jails and prisons to be severely repressive and racist?
This is an important distinction because jail is where people wait pre-trail, meaning they typically have not yet been found to be guilty of the charges brought against them, while prison is where people who have been charged, found guilty and sentenced to prison will go. Jail is where a cop that decides to arrest someone for dubious reasons will take them, whether that's enforcing an unconstitutional law (such as flag desecration laws which is protected speech under federal caselaw), findings from a blatantly illegal search, or even they arrested the wrong person because they went to the wrong address to execute a warrant, or any number of other reasons
That is a good distinction to make, but even convicted felons should be treated humanely.
while prison is where people who have been charged, found guilty and sentenced to prison will go
Not strictly true, jails can also house those convicted of less serious crimes (say, less than 1yr), as well as temporarily awaiting transfer to other facilites.
Looks like the UN only visited jails in person, but interviewed people with a range of experiences. You can read the full report here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/systemic-racism-pervades-us-police-and-justice-systems-un-mechanism-racial
Do other major countries use jails the way we do? 💀
Unfortunately a lot of americans like it just the way it is. Nothing's going to get better without a lot of time, or a lot of conservatives ending up in the ground
Hey now, how am I sposed to get my vengence boner stroked if there isn't someone's mugshot in the news for me to sneer at?
Yeah no shit lol
Hi, how is everyone doing today ?
I had a great fucking day today :3
Americans have no dignity, and they place no value on human life.. it's not a surprise..
Oh good, a pompous, nonsensical, deeply condescending, deliberately inflammatory, provincial and unhelpful comment! That's just what we need, said no one, ever.
dignity and indignation aren't necessarily the same thing.. you are demonstrating how that is the case..